Jungkook rummaged through his closet. He was desperate. What should he wear? He didn´t know.

Normally he had no problems choosing an outfit according to the situation he was in or better said the role he had to play at the moment. So what was the problem? Nothing had changed after all. Just everything. Because since the raven-head had accepted his love for Tae he had become self-conscious like hell. And that certainly didn´t make things easier.

A glance at the clock confirmed he was running late. By now even desperate enough to ask for advice (which he never did). He bolted out of his room. The first person he met was of course Hoseok.

Surprised by the running sound and the bewildered look on the younger´s face he raised his eyebrows.

“What´s going on?”

“Hyung, I don´t know what to wear”, Jungkook whined.

And Hoseok wouldn't be Hoseok if he hadn't known exactly what was going on right now.

“Well, do you want to get laid, play innocent or throw a punch? y, cute or badass for your date, which is it?”

The younger scowled then left the red-head and bolted to his room again. How can the simple question what to wear be so difficult?

After some time he went for a plain white shirt, tight dark jeans and a beanie. But as he was just about to leave, he was immediately stopped by his second. Hoseok grinning in the background and cheering “I knew it!!!”.

“You are not gonna go in that outfit”, Yoongi stated, leaving no place for arguments.

He grabbed Jungkook´s wrist and pulled him back to the younger´s room. Opening his wardrobe, the elder further elaborated “I won´t let you wear a boring white t-shirt for your date.”

Jungkook gulped. That ruled out two thirds of his wardrobe.

In the end, he was made wearing a dark print shirt and bright red jacket above. The beanie had to go, so did his insecurities. Because damn, he was going to meet Tae again! As he left his room again, Hoseok was whistling and Yoongi nodded in approval, smirking.

“Now this is what I call boyfriend material.”

The youngest barely listened. The clock was ticking- and he was so going to be late!

Sh*t! He didn´t even say good-bye but ran out of the building in a hurry. As soon as he was outside, he fell in a fast jog. Maybe, just maybe he could barely make it on time. Screw trains. It wasn´t that far anyways.

But still far enough.

Panting, the shirt sticking against his torso, Jungkook circled the small old bridge. And for once, Tae had beat him and arrived earlier than himself. The brunette was sitting in the shadow underneath the bridge, watching ships and boats of various sizes lazily passing by. Tiny blue flowers were blooming where he sat and the soft brown hair swayed in a slight breeze. Too entranced by his surroundings to notice Jungkook, Tae sat there and looked serene.

The younger´s breath hitched. He knew it wasn´t a date and there would never be such a thing but still – I wish it was.

Stepping closer he cleared his throat and snapped the brunette out of his trance.

“Jungkookieee” Tae jumped up with a broad smile, dashed towards the other – and of course initiated their handshake ritual. It took quite a while.

As they were done and sat down together, Jungkook was grinning from one ear to another. Such a cute, unique, lovable weirdo.

“Congrats, Jungkookie! You remembered everything”, Tae praised him and pulled on one of his earlobes.

“Uh, yeah, I´m good at memorizing stuff, hyung.” As discreet as possible, the raven-head touched his ear. It was hot and tickling. It felt… actually pretty nice.

“Oh, really?” Tae eyed him curiously. “What things do you usually memorize?”

Data of my next victim together with the plan how to carry on the murder.

“I play cards and memory with my hyungs”, Jungkook answered sheepishly.

Tae giggled.

“Oh, by the way…” the younger opened his bag and took the lent clothes and CD´s out and handed it to the rightful owner. For some reason the one CD had survived the fall out of his window. There wasn´t even a scratch on it. Hoseok called it a sign from heaven or destiny, depending on his mood. Jungkook just thought it was creepy.

“Thank you very much for lending this to me. I washed your clothes and listened to all of your CD´s. And again, sorry for storming away last time.”

Tae laughed and waved one hand while taking the stuff with the other.

“Don´t worry about it too much. Anyway, did you like my music?” He cocked one eyebrow. And Jungkook couldn´t describe what that small single hot movement did to him.

“I, uh, I, yes?” he stuttered. And felt himself getting red.

He never got red! The Jungkook didn´t do the getting red and showing embarrassing feelings thing. Or maybe he already had? Had he become red in the presence of Tae? He couldn´t even tell yet he wouldn´t be surprised. However, him turning into a tomato earned him a huge beautiful smile from the older. If that was what he got for being embarrassed then so be it.

As Tae turned back to watch the river, Jungkook took the chance to shamelessly study his profile. And for one moment, he felt pure bliss.

Tae then was the first one to break the silence between them.

“You know, I was quite surprised as I got here. I never thought you knew or even liked such places. It is wonderful. Like our own secret hideout where we get one with the world, the city and the river whilst nobody can see us. It makes a great spot to think or just relax and let yourself get carried away.”

He turned back to Jungkook with a serious expression. “I really love it. Thank you very much for showing me this.”

Jackpot, the younger thought. But he only smiled silently. And just like that, as fast as serious Tae had come as fast he was gone again and bright Tae was back.

“I just remembered how you complained about me making you feel or something.” He giggled. “Like, what are you talking about? Everybody has feelings dude and that´s a great thing. You don´t make sense. But I guess you really had a bad day. After all you love Jiminie and should rather say this to him, or not? It´s project Jikook, right? Or did I miss something?”

Jungkook looked down at his fidgeting hands.

“…Yeah… no… you are right, hyung.”

It was beyond frustrating. And it hurt. He felt like one of his balloons at the party getting shredded by the ceiling fan. ‘Pang!’ But Tae just cooed at his shyness, and assured him it was okay to voice his feelings for the author. Jungkook hummed dumbly.

“So…” It was the brunette´s turn to rummage through his package.

“Let´s make a plan for project Jikook.” He got out two bananas and a spoon, handed one fruit to the younger peeled the other one and started eating it with the spoon. Jungkook watched him in disbelief.

“Hyung, what are you even doing?!”

Tae gave him a confused look. “What am I- eating my banana obviously” he said, munching at another spoonful of the sweet mush.

The younger shook his head and then peeled his own fruit.

“Hyung, you are supposed to do it like this.” He demonstrated by biting off the tip whilst intensely gazing at the other. And internally swooned. Because he noticed how the Adam’s apple of Tae bobbed up and down and how his eyes widened. Slowly, not breaking eye contact, Jungkook took a bigger bite.

“R-right.” Tae his lips.

“Where were we? The project. You have the Taeyang CD, right? Good. So, as I am Jiminie-hyung´s best friend I know his favorite restaurant and everything of course. But if I told you his number one fav place it would be way too obvious, so I will give you the address of a place almost as good… wait, I´ll write it down for you… Don´t treat him or else you will make him uncomfortable because he thinks he needs to give something back. You can suggest to split the bill. And he likes it to be punctual so make sure to be on time too but not obviously over-punctual or he will be uncomfortable with it too and things will be awkward from the beginning. And for his favorite color…”

“Hyung”, Jungkook interrupted the babbling brunette, the precious fluffball, and placed a hand on one of the other´s thighs to stop him from talking. And didn´t he feel bold doing so. As if he hadn´t gone way further. But with the brunette, everything was somehow different.

Tae looked at him with big eyes, various notes in his hands.

“Thank you”, the younger ended and smiled. And like a mirror, the elder smiled back. It just was a small gesture, the lips tugging up and parting slightly but so incredibly entrancing Jungkook could never get bored watching. So that was what he just did. He stared at the smiling brunette for several seconds. But it didn´t seem to bother him.

“Aish, Jungkookie you are staring”, Tae laughed, leaned in and pulled at his earlobe again.

Jungkook wasn´t quite sure what the elder had for his ears but he didn´t mind at all. In fact, he already got a liking to it. Then, as if nothing had happened, Tae leaned back again, closed his eyes and listened to the different sounds surrounding them.

The flow of the river, the gurgling sound of small waves hitting stone and metal, the beating of wings as some ducks flew away, the deep noises coming from ships on the river, the laugh of running children, the busy talking of people crossing the river above their heads, the rustle of leaves in the wind, cars passing by.

All those various mixed sounds were carried to the both of them under the bridge, flowing like water. It was easy to get lost in it, to forget everything that matters. That´s why Jungkook loved this place and came here whenever he hit a low point.

Today was not one of those lows though. Because Tae was with him. He didn´t gave it a second thought (how very unusual for him to not analyze and think through everything) and laid down, placing his head on the brunette´s lap. Tae smiled again at him and absentmindedly began playing with his black hair. Humming, Jungkook closed his eyes and let go, enjoying the soft touch.

They stayed like that for who know how long. But eventually it got dark and they both needed to go home. Relucantly, Jungkook got up in a sitting position, his back facing Tae. He didn´t want to move yet. So he just sat there, staring into nothingness. And was caught off guard as the brunette ruffled his hair from behind, giggling like a child.

“You have so nice hair I wanna touch it all the time.”

Wide-eyed, Jungkook turned around. He could barely make out the features of the other anymore in the fading light. Slowly, he stretched out a hand and caressed one of Tae´s eyebrows with his thumb. It wasn´t intended at all, more like an automatic reaction. His fingers wandered to the defined jawline and lingered.

No! This is wrong, stop! Remember your role. You have a crush on his best friend. You are meeting him for advices to get this stupid project jikook rolling, right? And you just god-damned confirmed your love for the author to him. Act like it. Don´t mess up everything now. Stay strong, don´t be vulnerable, don´t show weakness to the wolves. Get a hold of yourself and don´t drag him in the black pit-hole of your life. Don´t, don´t, don´t! Stop it now!

Jungkook snatched his hand away as if he had touched fire. Tae gave him a strange look he couldn´t decipher.

“Kookie”, he whispered with deep, soft voice.

At that, something in the younger´s guts was stirring and it definitely was not the banana from earlier. Sh*t! Not again!

“I, uhm”, he frantically tried to regain some control. “I think I need to go somewhere, probably.”

He lunged for his bag but didn´t grip it properly so several things fell out. His ID, money, a bottle of water, a tiny notebook – and a sheet of paper he certainly did not put in there. And, how else could it be, in this moment a breeze lifted the sheet up and carried it away, in the direction of Tae.

Curious, the brunette picked it up.

“What´s this?” He turned it around to the printed side and read out loud. “Photography for beginners – couple workshop…”

Jungkook´s eyes almost fell out of his head. “Couple?!”

“Yes, workshop for two persons, already paid in advance”, the elder confirmed and held it right in front of the younger´s face. And indeed, there it was, written black on white:

Photography for beginners – couple workshop; one week / five days in a row, 5 hours per day, payment in advance only, two places reserved and paid, own camera required, reserved on Jeongguk, Jeon.

“Wha- but I didn´t…” Jungkook was lost. What was going on here?

“Aw, you finally want to become a proper photographer?” the brunette joked.

The younger shook his head. “I didn´t buy this.”

“But this is your name or not?” Tae argued. “And it is already paid so you need to go. Besides, it wouldn´t harm you and who knows, it could be really fun and interesting, right?”

“Uh, yeah, maybe but-“

“Anyways, who is accompanying you?”

“Errm, I don´t have-“

Tae sighed dramatically.

“Too bad. It would´ve been such a cute idea to go with Jiminie-hyung and make it like a date-week but he is extremely busy right now so I don´t think it would work.” One could literally see the wheels work in the brunette´s head and then the light bulb appearing as he snapped his fingers. “But I could come with you!” he shouted.

Jungkook gaped.

“Oh, come on, Kookie! This will be soooooo much fun!” Tae jumped around in excitement, clapping his hands and beaming. “I even have a camera I can bring. This will be so cool!” And then, he began to sing and dance funnily.

“Because I´m happy – clap along, if you feel like a room without a roof. Because I´m happy – clap along, if know what happiness is to you… happy, happy, happy, happy…”

It wasn´t flawless how he sang Pharrell William´s “Happy” and the slightly echoing acoustic under the bridge wasn´t the best one either but that didn´t stop him. And Jungkook found it amazing nevertheless. The stirring got even stronger and it took the younger all of his self-restraint not to start singing too.

As Tae turned around and gave him a pleading look – because well, he just had invited himself to a workshop for free – Jungkook couldn´t do much more than sighing in defeat and mumbling a beaten “Okay”.

“YASSSSS!” the brunette shouted, dashed towards him and pulled him in a bone-crushing hug. “Thank youuuuu~~~”

And let go again as if nothing had happened. Still confused, Jungkook continued shaking his head, stuffed the sheet back in his bag and turned to go.

Before they could part ways, Tae stopped him and forced him to do the special handshake-ritual again. Then he wished the younger much luck on his date with his best friend. And as they finally headed in different directions, he shouted a “By the way, the red jacket really suits you, Kookie” over his shoulder, grinning wide. Making Jungkook run against a pole.

“Can shadows get less shadowy, hyung?”

Yoongi gave him a look as if he had finally gotten insane. “Why.”

Jungkook stared at his orange juice. “Because Tae brightened up the shadow under the bridge.”

It went so silent one could hear a needle drop. Slowly, Yoongi´s mouth opened and then he screamed from the bottom of his lungs: “J-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE!”

There was a sound of something breaking and things gotten tossed aside, running and cursing and the next moment the door to the second´s office flew open.

“WHO DIED?!” the newly arrived red-head asked in bewilderment. As he saw no immediate danger he took a seat and looked from one man to another, waiting for an explanation.

The second pointed with his thump on Jungkook. “He said Tae lights up shadows or something.”

“Oh my gosh, really?!” Hoseok screamed and almost fell off his chair. “Tell me more!”

And for once, Jungkook complied without further resistance.

“Well, I mean he is just so… so bright. Like a real ray of sunshine or something. I mean, have you seen his smile? It´s like, I don´t know, like… it´s just so… damn! And he eats his banana with a spoon, how cute can you even be? And he complimented me. And oh my god, he called me Kookie! And he touched my hair and he wants to always touch it now and I ing got embarrassed but he laughed at it and so I don´t care if I need to get embarrassed for him to laugh because this is the most beautiful sound on earth, he is like a siren but he doesn´t even know and I can´t anymore…”

He touched his hair where Tae had touched it, then banged his head against the table.

…

“Jungkook, you are so whipped!”

Jungkook sat on his bed with the phones in his ears and sang “Happy” for the 32rd time. The song Tae had sung earlier.

The curtains next to him lifted, fell down and blasted up again. He watched in slight horror but didn´t stop singing. Of course he noticed the change, how could he not?

Normally, the air would steadily seep out of him during the Relief. It would be stronger or weaker from time to time, depending on what he sang and how yet there would always be a steady stream. However, right now, the stream sometimes got interrupted. Like not only dimming the light but turning it out completely, then switching it on again. It happened irregulary and was unpredictable.

Jungkook could feel his control slipping away, the control over his Blessing he had been holding for so long, putting a effort into doing so. If he had to picture it, the control he had gained was a bowl, containing a fluid, the Blessing. Whenever he didn´t use that power in one way or another, the full bowl would overflow. Yet the bowl itself would stay intact.

That´s how it normally was. How it had to be.

Only the bowl wasn´t intact anymore.

There were holes appearing somewhere in the walls of the bowl out of the blue and he needed to patch them before something really bad could happen. It had started just recently. To be more precise, since Tae had happened to him. Those holes slowly but steadily were scaring the sh*ts out of him and Jungkook didn´t know for how long he could patch them up in time.

Jungkook still kept singing. Maybe there was a rhythm, a pattern behind the hole thing? Or maybe it wouldn´t be so difficult to figure out how to prevent them from forming. He listened to the Blessing singing its deadly song with him, to his instincts if his body was building defense walls on its own. He tried remembering anything that could be helpful in this situation. He experimented a bit, focused on the bowl to reshape it.

After several hours Jungkook gave up. He had no strength left. This whole thing was far more exhausting than simply using his Blessing or running from one end of town to the other. It took a huge toll on him, physically and mentally. Yet he had not achieved anything, had made no progress whatsoever.

Nothing.